Wyoming judge censured for refusing to preside over same-sex marriages

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –  A small-town judge who says her religious beliefs prevent her from presiding over same-sex marriages was publicly censured by the Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday.

But while the court said her conduct undermines the integrity of the judicial system, it does not warrant removal from the bench. In a 3-2 decision, Justice Kate Fox wrote that Judge Ruth Neely violated judicial conduct code but removing Neely would “unnecessarily circumscribe protected expression.”

In Neely’s case, the dissenting justices argued that Neely didn’t violate any judicial conduct code. “Wyoming law does not require any judge or magistrate to perform any particular marriage, and couples seeking to be married have no right to insist on a particular official as the officiant of their wedding,” Justice Keith Kautz wrote in the dissent that was joined by Justice Michael K. Davis.

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The Christians fleeing their homes after ISIS attacks in Egypt

 

Ismailia, Egypt (CNN)”Are you a Christian?”

These were the last words 45-year-old Medhat Saad Hakim heard before he was shot in the head on his doorstep last month.

The gunmen dragged Hakim’s screaming mother outside the house before going back inside and shooting his father dead. The attackers then looted the house before torching it. His mother, Nabila Halim, survived the attack.

Medhat Saad and Saad Hakim are the sixth and seventh Christians killed in the North Sinai town of Al-Arish in just over a month — all targeted by Al Wilayat Sinai, a local affiliate of ISIS waging a low-level insurgency on the peninsula.

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Liberal Democrats ignore persecution of Christians outside the U.S.

Advocates who work to protect persecuted groups say there is a “blind spot” in the West concerning the plight faced by Christians around the world — a shortsightedness evident in the overwhelmingly negative reaction to President Trump’s executive order granting preferred refugee status to persecuted religious minorities.

From the Coptics in Egypt and the “house churches” in China to the “subversives” in North Korea and the “apostates” in Pakistan, Christians are under fire on the international stage.

Paul Coleman, deputy director of the Alliance Defending Freedom International, said the international persecution of Christians is unrivaled.

“No person or group should live in fear of being killed, tortured or oppressed because of their religious beliefs,” Mr. Coleman said in a statement. “By all accounts Christians are the most persecuted group on the planet.”

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Buffalo mother arrested after homeschooling children

A Buffalo mother’s children have been kidnapped by the government. Why? Because she dared to homeschool them.

In December 2016, Kiarre Harris submitted written paperwork notifying the Buffalo School District of her intent to pull her two children from PS 95-Waterfront Elementary and PS 65-Roosevelt ECC.  That paperwork was stamped, indicating the District had received it on December 7th.

“I spoke directly to the homeschool coordinator and she told me from this point on my children were officially un-enrolled from school,” Harris told 7 Eyewitness News.

A week later, Child Protective Services called her home to inquire why her children were not attending school.

“I told them that my kids were homeschooled now and that I could furnish the documents if they need to see them,” Harris said.

In mid-January, Harris was driving by her home when she noticed several police vehicles at the multi-unit residence, one of which followed her for a short while before she pulled over. Buffalo Police presented the 30-year-old with a court summons for child neglect, and demanded to know where her children were to remove them from her custody.

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